W. S. Di Piero出生于宾夕法尼亚州费城，并获得了他从圣约瑟夫学院的学士学位和旧金山州立学院的学士学位。他还在路易斯安那州立大学，西北大学和斯坦福大学这样的大学教学职业生涯，他仍然教授。Di Piero was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001. He often writes about growing up in his neighborhood of South Philadelphia, and the Italian-American working class families who largely populated the area.